Mercury in soils of the conterminous United States: Patterns and pools

Connor I. Olson; Benjamin M. Geyman; Colin P. Thackray; David P. Krabbenhoft; Michael T. Tate; Elsie M. Sunderland; Charles T. Driscoll

doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ac79c2

Mercury in soils of the conterminous United States: Patterns and pools

Connor I. Olson, Benjamin M. Geyman, Colin P. Thackray, David P. Krabbenhoft, Michael T. Tate, Elsie M. Sunderland, Charles T. Driscoll

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

Soils account for the largest global mercury reservoirs, but observations are sparse in many regions. The accumulation and turnover of mercury in soils determines whether they act as an atmospheric source or sink. Here, we present a spatial analysis of soil mercury from a large soil survey (three horizons, ∼4800 sites) across the conterminous United States conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey. Soil mercury pools were calculated for 11 layers, cumulatively representing the top 1 m of soil, and totaling 158 ± 2 Gg (±SD) of mercury (20.3 ± 0.2 mg m-2). Mercury areal density was greatest in mixed forest (27.3 ± 0.5 mg m-2), cropland (25.3 ± 0.3 mg m-2), and deciduous forest (25.6 ± 0.5 mg m-2) ecosystems and lowest in barren (13.5 ± 0.3 mg m-2) and shrubland (12.6 ± 0.2 mg m-2) ecosystems. Assessment of the provenance of soil mercury using bedrock titanium normalization suggests that 62%-95% of soil mercury is unexplained by parental sources.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	074030
Journal	Environmental Research Letters
Volume	17
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac79c2
State	Published - Jul 1 2022

Keywords

CONUS
ecoregion
landcover
mercury (Hg)
spatial analysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
General Environmental Science
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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10.1088/1748-9326/ac79c2

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title = "Mercury in soils of the conterminous United States: Patterns and pools",

abstract = "Soils account for the largest global mercury reservoirs, but observations are sparse in many regions. The accumulation and turnover of mercury in soils determines whether they act as an atmospheric source or sink. Here, we present a spatial analysis of soil mercury from a large soil survey (three horizons, ∼4800 sites) across the conterminous United States conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey. Soil mercury pools were calculated for 11 layers, cumulatively representing the top 1 m of soil, and totaling 158 ± 2 Gg (±SD) of mercury (20.3 ± 0.2 mg m-2). Mercury areal density was greatest in mixed forest (27.3 ± 0.5 mg m-2), cropland (25.3 ± 0.3 mg m-2), and deciduous forest (25.6 ± 0.5 mg m-2) ecosystems and lowest in barren (13.5 ± 0.3 mg m-2) and shrubland (12.6 ± 0.2 mg m-2) ecosystems. Assessment of the provenance of soil mercury using bedrock titanium normalization suggests that 62%-95% of soil mercury is unexplained by parental sources.",

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AU - Olson, Connor I.

AU - Geyman, Benjamin M.

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AU - Krabbenhoft, David P.

AU - Tate, Michael T.

AU - Sunderland, Elsie M.

AU - Driscoll, Charles T.

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N2 - Soils account for the largest global mercury reservoirs, but observations are sparse in many regions. The accumulation and turnover of mercury in soils determines whether they act as an atmospheric source or sink. Here, we present a spatial analysis of soil mercury from a large soil survey (three horizons, ∼4800 sites) across the conterminous United States conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey. Soil mercury pools were calculated for 11 layers, cumulatively representing the top 1 m of soil, and totaling 158 ± 2 Gg (±SD) of mercury (20.3 ± 0.2 mg m-2). Mercury areal density was greatest in mixed forest (27.3 ± 0.5 mg m-2), cropland (25.3 ± 0.3 mg m-2), and deciduous forest (25.6 ± 0.5 mg m-2) ecosystems and lowest in barren (13.5 ± 0.3 mg m-2) and shrubland (12.6 ± 0.2 mg m-2) ecosystems. Assessment of the provenance of soil mercury using bedrock titanium normalization suggests that 62%-95% of soil mercury is unexplained by parental sources.

AB - Soils account for the largest global mercury reservoirs, but observations are sparse in many regions. The accumulation and turnover of mercury in soils determines whether they act as an atmospheric source or sink. Here, we present a spatial analysis of soil mercury from a large soil survey (three horizons, ∼4800 sites) across the conterminous United States conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey. Soil mercury pools were calculated for 11 layers, cumulatively representing the top 1 m of soil, and totaling 158 ± 2 Gg (±SD) of mercury (20.3 ± 0.2 mg m-2). Mercury areal density was greatest in mixed forest (27.3 ± 0.5 mg m-2), cropland (25.3 ± 0.3 mg m-2), and deciduous forest (25.6 ± 0.5 mg m-2) ecosystems and lowest in barren (13.5 ± 0.3 mg m-2) and shrubland (12.6 ± 0.2 mg m-2) ecosystems. Assessment of the provenance of soil mercury using bedrock titanium normalization suggests that 62%-95% of soil mercury is unexplained by parental sources.

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Mercury in soils of the conterminous United States: Patterns and pools

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Keywords

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